Deer kill by yr?

827 Views 16 Replies 11 Participants Last post by AF2007, Jan 4, 2012

SKEETER

Discussion Starter · Dec 28, 2011

Is there anywhere that you can look a the kill numbers for this yr, vs. last yr. I am just wondering if everyone is having as bad of a season as I am. I cant even see a deer little on kill one. The youth season is the last time I saw any deer. This is season has just been terrible for me.

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sleepy

· #2 · Dec 28, 2011

Link to this years deer harvest to date.

https://www.ark.org/agfc/gamecheck/reports.php?do:deerByZoneBySex=1

Link to last years total harvest.

https://www.ark.org/agfc/gamecheck/reports.php?do:deerByZoneBySex=1

Give you an example. My 2 kids and I killed 5 deer together. Folks 300 yards a way never saw a deer. It was a strange year. Last deer I have seen on the stand was the Saturday of the youth hunt and my girl got that one.

sleepy

· #3 · Dec 28, 2011

Sorry put up the wrong link for last years totals

https://www.ark.org/agfc/gamecheck/reports.php

SKEETER

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 28, 2011

sleepy said:
Link to this years deer harvest to date.

https://www.ark.org/agfc/gamecheck/reports.php?do:deerByZoneBySex=1

Link to last years total harvest.

https://www.ark.org/agfc/gamecheck/reports.php?do:deerByZoneBySex=1

Give you an example. My 2 kids and I killed 5 deer together. Folks 300 yards a way never saw a deer. It was a strange year. Last deer I have seen on the stand was the Saturday of the youth hunt and my girl got that one.

Same here, saw deer during the youth hunt, wasnt real worried about it. Havent seen squat since.

Tink

· #5 · Dec 28, 2011

Me and the wife have killed 6 deer this year. Last year we only killed 2.

SwampCat

· #6 · Dec 28, 2011

Harvest numbers alone don't tell the story - although they are good for predicting trends. My wife and I killed seven deer last year. We have killed one so far this year - BUT we have seen a bunch. In the last week, my wife has seen 9 bucks in one evening, and I have seen 17 different bucks since last Friday. We are seeing way more bucks than does. We both intend on taking a deer with our bows - but just have not done it yet. We have seen many more deer in the last two weeks than we did in the first two months of season. Just because it does not show up in the harvest statistics does not mean they aren't out there.

SKEETER

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 28, 2011

I am not seeing the deer on my place and getting far fewer pics than I normally get. I had a plot watcher on a very good plot no pics in a 7 day period. Nothing!

SwampCat

· #8 · Dec 28, 2011

Deer are not static creatures. About three years ago, neither my wife or I killed a deer - and it was not due to lack of trying. I shot one doe with my bow that I lost and that was the only shot taken that year. I have probably passed shooting opportunities on at least 15 to 20 legal bucks (I did not say big) this year and probably almost that many does. That is not counting illegal bucks. My wife has passed more than I. This is sitting the very same stands we were in three years ago. We have no acorns this year, and high water - deer are in our foodplots. Next year there may be lots of acorns and normal water, and we will wonder where are the deer are.:up:

huntindoc

· #9 · Dec 29, 2011

According to the stats, in my zone the buck harvest is up a little, the doe harvest up a little more and the button buck harvest is down. That jives with my observations. (that is with a bit of harvest yet to come this year).

Die hard hunter

· #10 · Dec 30, 2011

I killed 5 deer this year coulda killed 50 i do like to look at em usually kill does with bow early then concentrate on Rack Bucks so i let alot deer walk im not a big fan of killing does ive always belived that if you have alot does around theres gonna be bucks i hunt public lands but im willing to go farther stay longer than the average human

Doug Hodges

· #11 · Dec 30, 2011

Wow. More deer killed this year than last

tmeredith

· #12 · Dec 30, 2011

SKEETER said:
I am not seeing the deer on my place and getting far fewer pics than I normally get. I had a plot watcher on a very good plot no pics in a 7 day period. Nothing!

Same here skeeter. The agfc needs to wake up and realize there's alot more hunting pressure and alot fewer deer in nea than they think. They need to stop the doe season and shorten the gun season here.

Greyhound

· #13 · Dec 30, 2011

This year has been terrible for me...at least compared to previous years. I've been hunting the same land for about 10 years. For the past few years, I've seen at least three bucks to every doe and usually have about two to three in the 120-140+ class range (on camera). This year, I saw WAY more does than I normally do and ONLY three legal bucks all season long!!! I took a medium sized 8 point with gun on opening morning, a cull 5 point a couple weeks later and two does before the end of gun season. I bow hunt hard from opening day of season until gun season and didn't see a legal buck. I don't understand where all the smaller bucks went that I let walk last year?? Total legal bucks I got on camera in my prime location this year from Sept thru last weekend was 4 in comparison to 13-15 last year. Most everyone I have talked to in southwest Arkansas were having similar results. One deer camp in particular that has the same number of members this year as last (50), with the same number of acres this year as last has killed 55 fewer deer this year than at this time last year. I'm sure some in this area had a great season. I got meat in the freezer but I didn't see near the quantity or quality of bucks that I have in previous years.

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SwampCat

· #14 · Dec 30, 2011

Greyhound said:
This year has been terrible for me...at least compared to previous years. I've been hunting the same land for about 10 years. For the past few years, I've seen at least three bucks to every doe and usually have about two to three in the 120-140+ class range (on camera). This year, I saw WAY more does than I normally do and ONLY three legal bucks all season long!!! I took a medium sized 8 point with gun on opening morning, a cull 5 point a couple weeks later and two does before the end of gun season. I bow hunt hard from opening day of season until gun season and didn't see a legal buck. I don't understand where all the smaller bucks went that I let walk last year?? Total legal bucks I got on camera in my prime location this year from Sept thru last weekend was 4 in comparison to 13-15 last year. Most everyone I have talked to in southwest Arkansas were having similar results. One deer camp in particular that has the same number of members this year as last (50), with the same number of acres this year as last has killed 55 fewer deer this year than at this time last year. I'm sure some in this area had a great season. I got meat in the freezer but I didn't see near the quantity or quality of bucks that I have in previous years.

While I have had a decent year seeing deer - the game processor I use in SW AR told me the other day that it had been a slow year for him, also. Hot, dry summer may have elevated EHD mortality in this part of the state.

SKEETER

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 1, 2012

Processor here has taken in fewer deer as well.

ar_ladyhunter

· #16 · Jan 4, 2012

In my part of the state, north central AR, we have had a lot of acorns. I have seen a lot of deer. During the Christmas hunt, I saw 13 deer in 2 days, was rained out the first day so we didn't stay out long. 2 of those 13 were bucks, on small spike and one with at least 18 inch spikes. I have only killed one buck, but I haven't really been out enough to say whether I could have gotten any more or not. I am planning on getting out with my bow soon. In October, I saw a lot of does and only a few bucks. I hunt public land and don't reacall seeing as many hunters out as in years past.

AF2007

· #17 · Jan 4, 2012

I have seen quite a few more deer this year than I have last year and the little I hunted the year before. Last year and this year I probably hunted 10-15 trips. I saw two last year but this year I have seen deer on 85-90% of my trips. I think we had a strong but brief rut and the acorns were absolutely everywhere.

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